Is ego a projection?

[tuku747]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You are being selfish for caring.

Fascinating. 

https://www.llresearch.org/channeling/1993/0314

It is not ever necessary that others grasp who you are or what you are doing. It is acceptable, in our opinion, to be misunderstood, misvalued or misestimated. It is acceptable for others to think better of you than you think appropriate just as it is acceptable for others to think less. Release ownership of who you are. You cannot fly away from who you are, yet how closely you clutch and cling to this identity and attempt to torture it into ever more excellent details of behavior, appearance, conduct and thought. Yet, you are asked only to love and worship a mystery and to embrace others just as you embrace, forgive and accept yourself. Seek to put your life in the Creator’s hands and the Creator’s life will be in your hands. You then will be the perfect mirror, transparent to the light and the love of the infinite One so that there is no flaw in the backing of your light mirror. Seek simply to know your identity in love. Turn from any other consideration as frequently as possible and spend precious moments with the love that you are, with the love that you then may share.

Edited April 13, 2023 by tuku747

[Michal__]

11 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

This whole notion of "having an ego" is just an imaginary construct. The sooner you drop the whole idea, the better.

There really aren't any egos, just ideas in the Mind.

It's possible to have thought structures that often repeat & result in repetitive behavior and realizing that they are impermanent etc by observing them causes a change in perspective than often causes a change in behavior.

Fully seeing all thoughts and emotions can free a lot of energy and result in better ideas.

It is also possible to use thoughts for construction of stuff. But that is a separate woo woo sounding topic. Which actually can look manifold deeper than all those loa people.

Anyway I am just sharing (a part of) my current perspective, there surely must be a lot more to it.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Michal__

[Leo Gura]

"Ego" is not merely thoughts and beliefs, it is a state of consciousness.

[Buck Edwards]

The definition of ego is highly relative. You cannot lump into a specific term or sentiment. 

 

[Leo Gura]

6 minutes ago, Enlightement said:

The definition of ego is highly relative. You cannot lump into a specific term or sentiment. 

It's not that relative.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Buck Edwards]

4 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

It's not that relative.

An imaginary construct is always relative. 

 

[Leo Gura]

@Enlightement Don't get too clever for your own good.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Buck Edwards]

@Leo Gura you can keep an eye on me meanwhile i can keep an eye on your ego. 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Enlightement

[Buck Edwards]

3 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

we call ego the idea we have of ourselves, a human being who is going to die, who has a certain position with respect to other humans, etc. The problem is that in spirituality books they tell us that the goal is to transcend the ego, when it is only the first step.

I'd argue against this. Meanwhile it's not good to let ego go to your head, an ego is an essential component of human survival. You cannot transcend survival that quickly. This is much easier said than done. The ego is your sense of self, although it could be illusory. Something that your mind believes must exist. An image imprinted in your mind. How attached you're to this image is your egoic attachment. There are facets to this. 

[Buck Edwards]

Is a highly developed ego highly conscious at the same time? I believe so. You could index it like the spiral dynamics staircase. A small ego and a big ego are not the same as a truly conscious ego. 

When thinking about ego, separate the mind from it and think how the mind impacts the state of the ego. 

 

[Michal__]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

"Ego" is not merely thoughts and beliefs, it is a state of consciousness.

So egolessness is a different state of consciousness than the state of consciousness where you completely observe thoughts, beliefs and emotions which is a loop that removes resistance to experience?

Which can directly result in a state with zero body, for example.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Michal__

[Leo Gura]

31 minutes ago, Michal__ said:

So egolessness is a different state of consciousness than the state of consciousness where you completely observe thoughts, beliefs and emotions which is a loop that removes resistance to experience?

If you do a lot of meditation -- which is basically what you are describing -- that will shift your state of consciousness. Until eventually you start to reach egoless states. And perhaps eventually the total falling away of the ego state.

Since meditation is gradual, your state can shift subtly over the years without you even noticing how much it is changing. But you can also have dramatic leaps.

The best way to understand what ego is, is to enter a state where it simply doesn't exist. A state in which you cannot even recall your birth or your name.

To understand ego you need a stark contrast between ego-state and non-ego-state. Which is why psychedelics are so useful. When a psychedelic erases your own name from your mind, then you really start to appreciate ego. You may even beg GOD to give it back.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Buck Edwards]

14 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The best way to understand what ego is, is to enter a state where it simply doesn't exist. A state in which you cannot even recall your birth or your name.

To understand ego you need a stark contrast between ego-state and non-ego-state. Which is why psychedelics are so useful. When a psychedelic erases your own name from your mind, then you really start to appreciate ego.

An ego is simply an identity? I thought it was much more than just that. A collection of experiences, your blueprint. 

[Leo Gura]

4 minutes ago, Enlightement said:

An ego is simply an identity?

Simply?

What the hell is an identity?

I once sat down to make a flow-chart of the ego. After 10 hours of work I had over 100 elements with arrows looping in a 100 directions. I had to download special software just to map the damn thing. Then I realized I have enough material here to make an entire course. And that is what I'll do some day.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Michal__]

13 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

If you do a lot of meditation -- which is basically what you are describing -- that will shift your state of consciousness. Until eventually you start to reach egoless states. And perhaps eventually the total falling away of the ego state.

Since meditation is gradual, your state can shift subtly over the years without you even noticing how much it is changing. But you can also have dramatic leaps.

The best way to understand what ego is, is to enter a state where it simply doesn't exist. A state in which you cannot even recall your birth or your name.

To understand ego you need a stark contrast between ego-state and non-ego-state. Which is why psychedelics are so useful. When a psychedelic erases your own name from your mind, then you really start to appreciate ego. You may even beg GOD to give it back.

That is a good tip and I haven´t done that yet.

How do you specifically use contemplation to shift the trip in that direction on any substance? Or is it necessary to use something like ketamine?

 

[GLORY]

25 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The best way to understand what ego is, is to enter a state where it simply doesn't exist.
A state in which you cannot even recall your birth or your name.

When I am sleeping and dreaming, do I have an ego? (I cant recall birth and name there)

[Leo Gura]

15 minutes ago, Michal__ said:

That is a good tip and I haven´t done that yet.

How do you specifically use contemplation to shift the trip in that direction on any substance? Or is it necessary to use something like ketamine?

The technically deepest ego loss I experienced was on salvia and weed. But I suppose this will vary a lot from person to person.

As far as guiding your trip there, just basic self-inquiry should suffice. Although you cannot consciously will yourself into the most profound egoless states.

To get the deepest ego loss requires disabling your memory. Imagine if you lost your memory of what your face looks like, or that you even have a face! THAT would be some serious ego loss.

15 minutes ago, GLORY said:

When I am sleeping and dreaming, do I have an ego? (I cant recall birth and name there)

You aren't conscious much there so the question is moot.

The key is to experience total ego loss while fully consciousness and non-sleepy. That will be quite the mindfuck.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[tuku747]

43 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

What the hell is an identity?

I once sat down to make a flow-chart of the ego. After 10 hours of work I had over 100 elements with arrows looping in a 100 directions. I had to download special software just to map the damn thing. Then I realized I have enough material here to make an entire course. And that is what I'll do some day.

Why do I find the visual of You making a 100 element flow-chart titled "the ego" so fucking hilarious ? ? 

Edited April 13, 2023 by tuku747

[mmKay]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I had to download special software just to map the damn thing. 

What software do you like for mind mapping and flow charts? Onenote is good at connecting concepts with hyperlinks but it lacks that bird's eye view

 

I use Mindmeister atm, it's free and requieres no downloading. It's pretty rudimentary but its more convenient than photoshop

Edited April 13, 2023 by mmKay

[Moksha]

Ego is not the person, but identification with the person.

The absolute can lucidly realize itself within the form without misidentifying with it.

It sees the lower frequency (physical) and higher frequency (mental) energetic expressions of the personal shape, without being defined by them. These expressions lack the gravitational power to draw its attention that they once had. The absolute allocates enough attention to the form for it to survive, but awareness is expanded outward in a cascading unification of itself within the dream.

There is no ego in the flow state. Everything is realized as being absolutely the same.